The Story Behind The Bread

8:10:00 AM
Rhea Mocorro
2 Comments

Image from lemonsito

When we look for bread, we often find ourselves in Julie’s
Bakeshop. Truly they have become part in our meriendas and more. We always love
their bread variety and even more its affordability. I myself am a fan of their
bread.

But don’t you know that before Julie’s Bakeshop came to be,
it also started out small. This bakeshop originated from Cebu City way back in
1981. The one responsible for its creation is Julie Gandionco who was a canteen
concessionaire of a factory in Cebu. This factory houses thousands of employees
to the point that she would farm out orders for breads from varied small
bakeries. One baker exclaimed that she should consider putting up her own bake
shop in order to cater to the large volume of bread demands.

However, Julie back then doesn’t know how to bake. She knows
how to cook that is why she runs the canteen business. Hence, she was hesitant
to go into the bakery business until the baker offered to do the baking.

Hence in 1981, Julie’s Bakeshop opened in Mandaue City. It
was a great hit in the community hence not long after they opened a second
branch in Urgello Street. In 1988, the said bakeshop opened its first outside
Cebu branch in Iloilo City. The stores are family-owned with a few partners.
Julie became a businesswoman even without the educational records. She simply
has a lot of perseverance, hard work and also good business sense. And now, her
bakeshop is considered the largest chain of such in the country. You could
immediately find one in every corner of the city. This holds true especially
when it opened for franchising in 1998. According to Bien, member of the
Gandionco clan, they need to be dynamic in order to grow. That is why it is
truly an amazing feat that they have 500 stores nationwide and it was started
with a lady with no baking knowledge.

They know their market very well that is why their bakeshops
are closely connected to neighbourhoods. They want to be known as a neighbourhood
bakery. That is why they don’t embrace setting up one in malls. And now they have
gone international too. They already have a store in Tangara, Indonesia. And now
they are also looking for other Asian countries too.

I am pretty certain with their current business dynamics and
more, their global expansion idea will explode in no time at all. After all,
they are geared not just to bake bread but also to feed the people. With that,
we will definitely still be loving Julie’s Bakeshop.